Chapter 11: Rubble at the Styx
Judy, being Judy, always made sure that she would arrive to the station with at least ten minutes to spare before the beginning of the morning brief. And because Nick was her partner, he would be forced to come along with her despite his constant complaining that those precious extra minutes could be spent back in bed blissfully asleep.
However, today her habit of arriving early paid off with dividends when Chief Bogo decided to start the brief a good seven minutes early. Judy checked, just to make sure that it wasn't her who thought that he was early today. The two-thirds empty bullpen agreed with her gut feeling that something was off.
Chief Bogo looked even less pleased with the day than he normally did. He didn't even have to get everyone to settle down – he had everyone's attention just by his odd timing. "Look, I don't have the time to go into lengthy explanations, so I'm just going to give you all your assignments and trust that you get them done properly," he gruffly explained. From the back, Fangmeyer and Wolford slipped into the room, trying to get inside without him noticing. If he had, Bogo didn't show it. "Today our station is going to be playing host to a large group of mammals from the government, since apparently this police station doesn't belong to the ZPD anymore..." He glared across the room. "Don't get in their way, and more importantly, don't get in my way."
He immediately went straight into issuing out assignments. "Higgins, you'll be helping me keep the peace in the station. McHorn, continue with your investigation into the street racing gang. Pennington..."
As Bogo read off the assignments to the police officers, he proved that he was in fact aware of the slow trickle into the room. They no doubt were being warned by Clawhauser about the early start of the meeting, also all tried to get in unannounced. When he did get to an assignment for an officer who hadn't arrived yet, Bogo would simply place it at the back of the pile and continue on without pausing to catch his breath.
"...Hopps, Wilde. You two will be partnering up with Fangmeyer and Wolford to look into a reported drug den. Look into it, shut it down if you can. Snarlov you will be..."
Finally, the last officer tried to sneak into the bullpen. Bogo glanced up from his assignment list. "Ah, good, Johnson, as the last one in here, parking duty."
"What-? But there's still two minutes until we were supposed to start! I'm not late!" The lion protested. Judy snuck a peak at her phone. Sure enough, there were still two minutes left until the briefing was only scheduled to begin in the first place.
Bogo snorted. "I know, but I don't care," he casually explained, "you were still the last one in." He then slammed his arms on the podium. "You all have your assignments! Dismissed! Higgins, with me." The room filled with the noise of mammals moving around and chairs squeaking and groaning from being moved around as everyone left before they could gather the wrath of their chief of police.
Nick and Judy met up with Fangmeyer and Wolford just outside the bullpen. Fangmeyer was already flipping though the case file, trying to find any useful information.
"So what are we looking at today?" Judy asked, already getting her mind ready for the work.
"Not much to go on here," Fangmeyer answered, still flipping through. "We have an address, some kind of old warehouse if memory serves me correctly. A report of suspicious activity that might or might not be gang or drug related… A search warrant allowing us to inspect the place... Case file that's a couple of days old at this point..." She squinted at something at the bottom of the last page. "Note from Bogo to go and checkup with Clawhauser. Okay then, guess we have our first item on the 'to do' list."
The group went off to the dispatcher's desk, and Nick used the time to get Wolford's attention. "Hey, Wolfy, is it just me, or was Buffalo Butt even crankier than usual this morning?" he asked.
Wolford ignored the sight of both Fangmeyer's and Judy's ears swiveling in their direction. "Uh, yeah, well, who wouldn't be? Especially with that-" he pointed towards the floor in front of Clawhauser's desk. A number of various mammals were all trying, and failing, to look inconspicuous despite their rather casual clothing. Though separate from the group were a certain deer and coyote, busy to talking to Clawhauser. This morning, the two of them appeared to have put more effort into their appearance, with Count especially.
Nick grinned and took the initiative by walking over to the reception desk. "There you two jokers are. Was wondering where you were," he said as he came over. "Looking good there, Count! What's the occasion?"
Count grinned back, running a hand between his ears through his freshly shined fur. "We're needed today to put on a show! So why not? 'Sir Count' ready to dazzle!"
Nick grinned. "A show, huh? What about?"
"Eh, not anything important as far as you will care." Count tilted his head towards Wolford. "Officer here already heard the entire thing, but I suspect it went through one ear and out the other without stopping by for a visit to his brain."
"I heard that," Wolford warned as he came over with the others. "And FYI, but I did understand most of it, but thank you for your consideration."
but didn't show any other emotions as he turned his attention to Clawhauser and Trigger. The second pilot had his back to them and wasn't paying any attention, but he could see Clawhauser just fine, and more importantly his terrified expression. "Morning Spots! What's eating you? Anything us beat cops can help you with?" He looked over at the pilots, trying to read their expressions to see if he can come up with the answer on his own. Count looked quite amused at something, while Trigger was looking rather irritated, a paw outstretched to hand Clawhauser what looked like a flash drive.
"Nick, it's a catastrophe!" Clawhauser answered, eyeing nervously as the other three officers came over after Nick. "Trigger… he, and I really don't know how it's even possible, I mean can you imagine? I never thought it could ever be, but he-"
Fangmeyer interrupted Clawhauser. "Ben, you're rambling again," she said, getting his attention. "What's up?"
Clawhauser gave a shy shake of his head. "Oh, right, sorry. As I was telling Nick… Trigger came over to ask me for something, at which I asked him if he heard Gazelle's latest album. You know, El Dorado? Not only has he not heard it yet, but he doesn't even know who Gazelle is!"
Count couldn't help himself and started to laugh, shoulders shacking as he forced a fist into his muzzle to stop himself from making too much noise.
Wolford buried his own face into his paws with a disappointed sigh while Fangmeyer suppressed her own reaction while trying to look dignified.
Judy stared at Trigger with a strong look of a disapproving parent, while Nick just smirked with his usual expression.
Trigger shoved his drive towards Clawhauser again. "I know I live under a giant rock, I get it! But I just need you to double check if the files on this work! They're needed very soon and I need to make sure that they work more than just on the computer I get to use down at the server room. I don't have the luxury of time to sit and talk about some stupid singer!" he complained. "Help a guy out, will you?"
Except instead of helping, Clawhauser just stared back, eyes wide and lower lip quivering. "Di- did you just call the greatest gift to this planet s-s-s-" he couldn't finish the word as his voice failed him.
"Way to go Trigger, now you hurt his feelings," Judy scolded, causing his ears to lower in shame.
Nick leaned over to whisper in Trigger's ear. "Word of advice, but seeing how you just insulted Gazelle right in front of the president of her fan club, now is a very good time to start running for your life."
Count's shaking only increased, though the word 'dumbass' was heard muffled through his fists.
Trigger glanced around him, his own eyes widening in fear when he realized that he was now in a one-versus-five situation, with the sixth not on either side, but most importantly, not on his. "Look, Clawhauser… Ben? I didn't mean it! I mean, how could I? If I never even heard of her, how can I have a bad opinion of her?" Clawhauser stared back as he continued to stammer. "I don't actually think she's stupid! For all I know, she really is the best singer in the world! So what do you say?" When the dispatcher didn't reply, Trigger pulled his arm back and placed the flash drive in his pocket. "You know what? Forget it. Everything should work fine anyways." He backed away from the desk, glancing nervously at the group of mammals, of whom some were watching him and the other officers by the desk.
"Hey, Trigger?"
He stopped when Clawhauser spoke up. "...Yeah?"
"Here, let me look at that drive." Clawhauser took the stick from Trigger and plugged it into his own computer. "What time are you going to be free today?" he asked as he started to glance at the files that popper up.
"I don't know. Most likely I'll be busy for the entire day," Trigger answered, shuffling nervously as Clawhauser whistled in amazement while looking through the files.
"That's some rather advanced stuff," Clawhauser commented, "don't know why you needed me to look through it. It all works as far as I can tell, but this is all way above my head. Uh, I am allowed to look at this, right?"
"Different operating system and programs," Trigger replied lamely. "Just needed you to open this up and make sure nothing glitches up. And yes, there's nothing secret in here."
Clawhauser shrugged and pulled out the drive, handing it back. "Could have just had an officer to check it up for you then. One of them, even," he motioned at the others around the desk, then stopped. "Well, anyways, you know, that 'not knowing about Gazelle' thing of yours? That's a very serious illness you have there."
Trigger blinked, confused. "That's hardly an illness-" he countered, only to be shushed into silence receptionist, now patiently breathing out slowly, humming as he did so.
"Do not worry, ye of little faith," Clawhauser, "visit this but humble servant in front of you, and he will cure you of this terrible pestilence. We who walk the path of Gazelle do not feel shame towards those outside the True Light, nor hostility. No, we only seek to cure the world of this terrible predicament through the good news of Her songs. Amen."
From behind, Count doubled over in laughter as Judy, playing along, crossed herself as Clawhauser spoke.
He then opened his eyes, staring unblinking at Trigger. "But seriously. Stop by here once you have some free time. You have no idea what you are missing out on!"
"Uh, sure, I guess I'll do that," Trigger answered, confusion evident in his voice. "But I uh.." he glanced down at his flash drive. "...I don't know where I was going with this. Whatever, Count, let's go, we have work to do." He quickly glanced at the other officers. "See you around, I guess?" He turned and left, a still chuckling Count following behind.
Clawhauser waved at them as they left. "Good luck with whatever it is you're doing! And remember, my desk after you're done!" He turned to the officers. "I was just playing with him, I wasn't actually upset that he never heard of Gazelle. Just surprised more like. A simple fix, I assure you all!" He grinned, then suddenly sat up straighter. "So what can I help you lot with? Or did you simply stop by to say hello?"
Fangmeyer was about to answer when Clawhauser suddenly disappeared behind his desk, reappearing a moment later with a stack of papers in his paws.
"Silly me, I almost forgot that Bogo had me print these out for you this morning!" he explained as he handed the papers to Fangmeyer. "So, you're investigating the spooky old run-down place?"
Holding the new papers low enough for everyone to see, Fangmeyer flipped through them. They were mostly photographs and schematics for the building they were tasked with looking into. "Doesn't look like anything more or less unusual than any abandoned industrial building," she commented, "though those do often provide a popular spot for crime. Nick, and advice from that Zootopian encyclopedia you have in your head?"
Nick grabbed the papers from Fangmeyer, examining them more closely. "Oh, yeah, I know where this is," he commented, "as far as defunct areas go, this one is rather new. It was still up and running as of ten or so years ago, but closed down and was abandoned after that. Can't say that I have heard of this area as being a center of crime or low-lifers. It's a bit too far away and isolated from the center of the city to be attractive to even those who want to avoid being seen." He handed the stack back to Fangmeyer.
Watching the officers, Clawhauser reached down and grabbed a set of car keys. "One last thing, Bogo says to take one of the undercover vehicles instead of your usual cruisers. This one will fit you all with plenty of space."
Fangmeyer took the keys as well. "Thanks Ben! We'll keep you updated." Then to the other officers, she asked, "any of you have any other last minute things to get done? Otherwise, let's hit the road!"
There wasn't anything else, so the four officers made sure that they had all of their gear before heading over to the vehicle pool. Their given vehicle in question was hardly 'undercover' if it can be called that. It was still very much a ZPD police vehicle, just without the usual lights and stickers that make identification of a cop car easy. Didn't mean that this thing wouldn't stand out on the road.
Still, with their uniforms on, it wasn't like they were particularly trying to blend in. Getting inside, Fangmeyer had Wolford drive, with Nick and Judy placed in the back seats. However, due to the car being designed around medium-large mammals like the wolf and tiger, there was more than enough room in the back for the smaller fox and bunny.
As they drove, Nick spoke up about the place they were heading to. "I just remembered something else about this warehouse," he said, "there were some rumors a couple of years back. During the Nighthowler scare? I remember hearing rumors that this place had some weird stuff going on..." he had to stop to recall from his memory some more. "No, I don't think it was Nighthowler related, though. It least, I don't remember it being so. Not to mention, if it was related, it would have shown up as a link in our system for the case file."
"So you think we might be on to something, Nick?" Judy asked, ears perking up in interest. From the front, Fangmeyer was also leaning her had back to hear better.
"Not sure," Nick admitted as he stared out of his window. "They were only rumors, and anything of serious note tends to get passed around a bit more than just through the rumor mill. If you want to think of it, it's like well, in the less-than-legal parts of Zootopia, when a lot of business deals, if you want to call them that, have nothing to back them up but words, then the expression 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence' comes to mind."
"...So you're saying that we should expect to find anything then?" Fangmeyer asked, sounding disappointed.
Nick grinned a little. "Nah. More like, expect that there might be something, but don't be surprised if there isn't," he clarified.
"That's hardly much of an answer, Nick," Judy said accusingly.
He looked out the window to show how uninterested he was. "Yeah, well, before I was a cop, it was my job to know everything about everyone and everywhere in this city," he countered, "but aster I turned blue, a lot of mammals made it a habit of theirs to make sure that I don't keep up with the times. So excuse me if I don't have all the info going in this time, Carrots."
A very low growl emanated from the front of the car where Fangmeyer was. "Everyone, can we stop from arguing before we even get there?" she asked.
"We weren't arguing!" countered both Nick and Judy at the same time, causing the bunny to start laughing.
"Are the two of you always like this together?" Fangmeyer then asked, tone heavily implying that she had already guessed the answer correctly.
"Yea-up" Nick confirmed.
The tiger groaned, hitting her forehead against the steering wheel. "Figures..." And here she thought from the several times she rode with Nick as her partner that he could get bad enough on his own at times. No wonder Bogo's temper got even worse after the fox joined the force.
Luckily, the rest of the ride proved uneventful, with Nick even providing directions to a run down entrance for the car to slip through that didn't show up on the map. Naturally, he didn't give an actual answer when asked how he knew about it.
The scenery around them gradually became duller and more run down as they drove, telling them visually how they were leaving the more affluent parts of Zootopia and entering the less well-off sections. Soon enough, they drove away from those as well, entering an area where only the occasional ragged mammal could be spotted on the street, surrounded by broken and weathering buildings. In fact, out here, the only signs telling them that they were still in Zootopia were the tall and shiny buildings that formed the skyline behind the corroded concrete jungle around them.
A few quick hints from Nick, and they arrived to the scene.
Parking next to the rusting and collapsing warehouse, the four officers got their first good look at their target building. Or perhaps a lack of a building. The walls were all right, for the most part, if one ignored the heavy rust, other stains, and complete coverage by graffiti. The roof though, from what they could see, looked like it was on its last legs before a complete collapse.
"You said this place was abandoned ten years ago, Wilde?" Wolford asked, "I feel unsafe just looking at it." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "As for being a drug den, certainly smells like it. Or at least like it used to be a hobo hideout."
Nick sneezes as a particularly foul scent hit his own nose. "Tell me about it," he complained, "we didn't bring any nose plugs with us, did we?"
Fangmeyer glanced back at their car. Even if it wasn't a police car, just by the fact that it was clean and shiny made it stand out like a sore thumb compared to its surroundings. "We have the usual muzzle masks if you want one of those, but they are terrible at blocking the smell."
Even as he gagged, Nick shook his head. "No thanks, I'll pass. I don't want to smell nasty things and have trouble breathing at the same time." His ears suddenly perked up when he heard his name being called.
"Nick?" Judy called out again. "Nick? I think... I just found something!" She sounded rather worried, so he hurried over to the location of her voice, stepping over a small rubble pile and finding her. "Nick, is that-?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Nick answered, staring down at the body she found. It was barely recognizable at this point, with the rotting fur and skin blending almost equally into even more rotting clothing. The size was fitting for a small-medium mammal, but he honestly couldn't even start to guess as to the exact species. "Must have been lying here for a good several weeks to be in a state like this," he commented, "most likely some homeless guy who finally gave up trying. I don't know what did him in though." He scanned the ground around them, noticing the large quantities of trash and the more than comfortable amount of broken needles and other pieces of glass. "Damn, easily an OD that no one cared about." He reached out and pulled Judy back by the shoulder. "Let's go, fluff. Staring at bodies isn't good for your health," he joked, even as he was scolding himself for such a lame attempt to cheer her up.
"Nick..."
He stopped when he heard her say his name in a quiet voice. "Yes, Fluff?"
She looked up at him, eyes wide and nose twitching. "How can you be so… casual about this?"
Nick sighed, gently pushing her away from the body. "I've been on and off the streets since I was twelve," he explained, "it's not the first time I've seen the darker side of the city where 'anyone can be anything'." Together, they went back to Fangmeyer and Wolford.
Fangmeyer noticed the look on Judy's face when the two of them came back. "What did you find?" she asked.
"A body," Nick answered plainly, "many days old based on the state of decay."
Wolford winced. "Aww, geez. Okay, I'll call it in." He moved over to where Nick and Judy came from, and for the next two or so minutes, their radios crackled as he described the find over to Clawhauser.
Fangmeyer had other ideas. "Guys, over here," she called out from where she went back to their car. "I don't like the look of this place, so I'm making the call that we need more protection." Grabbing the extra gear, she returned to Nick and Judy and started handing out the various items she grabbed. "Gloves, muzzle masks, booties..."
Putting on the protective clothing, Nick tugged at his mask to try and make it a little less uncomfortable. But it wasn't the only item bothering him. "And to think that Count and Trigger wore boots for so long that they prefer to have them on," he complained, wiggling his feet to adjust the offending material, "these just feel weird!"
"Would you rather step on something sharp, cut yourself, and then lose the entire leg due to infection?" Fangmeyer asked, rolling her eyes at his complaining. "You'll get used to these soon enough." She glanced at the rabbit, who remained quiet during this short exchange. "While you're at it, Wilde, check your gear. Make sure your dart gun is loaded, and double check your muzzle and cuffs. I know how you like to ignore the former of the two." She took a few steps to get close to Judy and kneeled down to be at her level eye to eye. "Hopps? Judy, how you holding up?"
Judy blinked before answering. "I… Just a strange feeling. I've had family members die back in Bunnyburrow, it's only natural considering the size of rabbit extended families, but we never left out a body to rot like that," she explained, "… I don't know, I guess I didn't expect to see something like that."
Fangmeyer smiled a little and nodded. "Don't worry, we all have a moment when we first see something we don't know right away how to deal with," she said, "comes with the territory of being a cop. But most importantly, how are you feeling? Want to sit this one out in the car?"
This question seemed to snap Judy out of her stupor. "What? No! I'm a cop, aren't I?" She exclaimed, "if I wanted to work in an occupation where I won't be uncomfortable, then I would have stuck to farming! I can still do my job." She then smiled back. "Am I Judy 'Wonder Bunny' Hopps or not?"
This last question earned her a chuckle from Fangmeyer. "Alright, you got me there. Put on your gear and let's figure out the game plan." She handed the pile of things to Judy. "I do hope I picked the right size out from the trunk." With a nod, Judy took the things.
When Wolford returned, he also took only a few moments to put on his own protective gear. "Ambulance will show up to take care of the body once we leave," he explained as he got ready, "that way they will leave the site undisturbed for us to inspect." He frowned in his mask. "Can't say I saw much from over there," he said with disappointment. "Just rubble and more rubble. Several remains of tents and other what used to be someone's home. Definitely a place where drugs were, possibly are still used, but I can't say anything about it being a source for them." He glanced around them. "Can't say I saw any living souls around either. For Zootopia, this place is definitely out in the Styx."
Nick pointed a finger at Wolford. "Just remember in case you run into him: 'don't pay the ferrymammal!"
The other three just stared back at him like he spoke in some foreign language. Nick smirked back. "No? Guess I'm just more cultured than the you all."
Fangmeyer grumbled. "Wilde, now's not the time," she said firmly. "Take Hopps, scout the building clockwise. Wolford and I will take the other direction. Radio in if you see anything. If not, we'll meet up somewhere close to the other side." Thinking over a few more things, she nodded briefly. "Stay in contact through dispatch. While I don't see anything yet, I have a bad feeling about this. Wolford, ready?"
Judy nodded and grabbed Nick's arm. "Got it! Nick, let's go." She lead her partner off towards the warehouse, letting go of him as soon as he flicked his harm to loosen her grip.
The fox, for his part, smirked towards the bunny. "Gee, Fluff, I didn't know you had to hold my paw like that. You sure you're feeling all right?" he teased.
Judy rolled her eyes. "I told you, I'm fine!" she complained as she stopped at the wall, peering inside through the rather large cracks in the failing concrete and metal sides. "Seriously, who would ever want to live at a place like this?" she asked, noting a worn and weathered tent hastily placed on top of some more rubble.
Nick looked over hear head, but didn't see anyone who might claim home to the tent. "Those who want to have no more contact from anyone," he answered calmly. "A far too high number of drug addicts and drunks too far gone to care, those who simply gave up on life..." he grimaced, but even if he wasn't wearing a mask, Judy wouldn't have been able to see it. "Mentally ill that fell through the cracks..."
Through the gaps, he spotted several birds pecking away at some rubbish. "City's always been good at scaring birds away, to prevent them preying on the smallest of mammals," he added, "but it looks like no one's come in to fix the systems here for a while." He glanced down at his partner. "Stick close to me, don't want to get ambushed by an airborne threat."
Judy glanced up. "Thanks, Nick, but I think I can handle myself," she replied. "Think we don't have ways to deal with birds back at the homestead?" Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Wolford and Fangmeyer working their way past the building on the far side. She waved, but they didn't notice. "Rather odd how I was able to see them through two walls just now," she commented to Nick.
"Just a side effect of the place being so worn down," he said, "odd, normally takes more than a decade to get to a state like this."
Judy's ears perked up. "There's more places like this?" she asked.
Nick shook his head. "Not really. There are a pawful of places that lost ownership and no one bothered to pick up, but they're rare. Real estate in Zootopia is a bit too short in supply to just allow plots of land to go unused. Even places where no developer would care to adopt, organized crime is always looking for new places to set up shop."
At the mention of organized crime, Just had an idea. "Think we might have time to stop by Fru Fru's and ask about this place? She might have an idea about it."
"She might," Nick agreed. It was a long standing agreement that the two of them use Fru Fru as a cover instead of mentioning Mr. Big even when talking about asking for his help on a case. "It's odd, really, but I have a feeling that not even organized crime is running this place."
Judy looked around to try and see what he was seeing to lead to such a conclusion. Not spotting anything, she asked, "what makes you say that?"
Nick smirked again. "Because of how run down this building is. Roof, walls are about to collapse completely at any moment. I wager good money a good percentage is going to fall off come next storm. Bad for business to have your infrastructure collapsing around you when you are busy setting up shop. Also, birds. Shrews have good reason to fear them."
Judy nodded. "Right. Well, let's keep going?"
The two of them didn't get far when their radio crackled with Fangmeyer's voice.
"Wilde, Hopps, get over to us. We just found something very interesting. There's a door here. It's locked. And get this: the lock's new."
"Copy that, Hopps and Wilde on our way" Judy replied into her own radio. "You heard them, Nick. Let's go and see what they found," she said.
"Check that. Meet us at the car."
"Wilco."
With their now corrected orders, Nick and Judy made their way back to the car where they met up with Fangmeyer and Wolford. Over the radio, Fangmeyer and Wolford confirmed with Clawhauser that they were to get inside if they can and look for anything they can find inside. As the two came closer, Judy saw that the two officers already there were now busy putting on their tactical vests. "Have any idea what's behind the door?" she asked, eyeing hers and Nick's extra equipment already laid out and ready for them to grab.
"I'll be honest, Hopps," Fangmeyer answered, "I am really starting not to like this place. Even for a forgotten corner of Zootopia, we should have at least seen someone. More than one someone. Instead, we found a decaying body. The buildings around us look no better, and the warehouse itself that we are tasked with looking into is even worse. Except for one rather well hidden door with a shiny new lock on it." She grunted as she tugged on her ballistic vest to get it to fit more properly. "Anything in that description sound odd to you?"
"All of it," Judy agreed. She proceeded to put her own vest on as well.
Fangmeyer nodded. "So we're not taking any chances. Best case, I'm just being paranoid and someone is using the isolated location to store some personal property. But worst case..." She grabbed a ballistic firearm and checked to make sure it was loaded, sliding a round home and flicking the safety on before placing the weapon into its holster on her hip. "...Worst case, I really do hope our tranq guns are enough," she finished.
In a few short minutes, the rest of the officers had their own equipment and gear checked and stowed appropriately, checking over each other to make sure that they didn't miss anything. A quick radio call to Clawhauser to inform him of their status, and they were ready.
"Once inside, I don't want us splitting up unless it's for a very good reason," Fangmeyer said, "Hopps, know you and Wilde work best together, but listen to us. I know you both scored highly in training, but if things turn bad in there, training only goes so far compared to actual experience, which I have to say both of you don't have." She grinned down at the two smaller officers. "Not that I consider that a bad thing." She held up a paw, showing two of her fingers crossed. "And here's hoping that you won't be gaining any of that experience today." One more look over at the group, and she gave a final nod. "Right, no more delaying. Wolford, you ready?"
"One hundred percent, Dahlia."
Another nod. "Wilde?"
"A fox is always good to go!"
"Right. Hopps?"
"Ready when you are."
"Good. Everyone, stay sharp. Now, let's go breach that door."
